Chiquis

Chiquis was a little puppy just 2 months old when we brought her home. This was right after our beloved Chino passed away.

I named her Chiquis (short for Chiquita). She is a mix bread of Chihuahua and a hotdog and who knows what else. She is cute as a button.

During the time she has been with us, we soon realized that this family was not made to take care of small dogs. We've always had big dogs (Alaskan Husky and American Eskimo). She was so little that we kept stepping on her. We had to buy her a little collar with a bell so that we could hear her. But even then, we still kept on stepping on her. My son (who's pretty big and heavy for his age) loved to play with her. But at times, he was a little too rough. We had to explain to him that Chiquis was still a puppy and very little so he had to be careful with her.

Chiquis loved chasing after my son. One day, my son was playing around with her. She started chasing after him and in the course of running and chasing, Chiquis ran in between his legs, tripped him over and he fell on top of her. Sure enough Chiquis was crying with so much pain! Poor little Chiquis. We had to rush her to the Vet. Chiquis definitely had a broken leg! I could not believe this was happening. First Chino and now this....! Thank God he didn't crush her and killed her!

So here is little Chiquis with a cast on her leg. She cried out all night in pain. I wished I could have taken the pain away, but there was nothing I could do. I stayed up with her and tried to give her as much comfort as possible until finally she fell asleep.

The next day, she was walking around like nothing ever happened. She looked so cute with her little cast. By the third day, she was running around. I took her back to the Vet and he told me I should keep her in a kennel for awhile so she wouldn't run and reinjure her leg. I felt so bad for Chiquis when I had her locked in her little kennel. She did not like it at all. She kept crying and yelping and giving me those eyes like saying "please get me out of here!" But it was for her own good. A couple of weeks had past, she seemed to be getting used to being in the kennel. But when we would let her out, we had to keep her on a short leash as she would try to run for it!

One afternoon, I got her out of the kennel and was walking her. While walking, I noticed something different about her. I realized she did not have her cast on. I don't know how she did it, but she got it off. Of course her leg got a little thinner but not enough to have gotten the cast off by itself. I took her back to the Vet and again he told me keep her in her kennel she's healing well but she still has a few more weeks to go. So there was my little Chiquis back in a cast.

Soon the day came and she was freed from the darn cast. I could tell she was so excited. She started running around our yard like there was no tomorrow. She looked so cute. I was afraid for her because I didn't want her hurt again. Every time my kids had softball or soccer practice, I would try to take her to the park. She loved going for walks around the park. She looked so happy. And of course some of the kids at the park began to know her and like her. She even became the little mascot for my daughter's softball team. We made her a little red shirt to go with the color of her team.

My other pets (Beau and Coqueta) were too old to play with her. She would jump, bark and snip at them. I was afraid they would bite her and hurt her. But I knew Chiquis had to learn. She would especially jump and snap at Coqueta. You could see in Coqueta's face that she did not want to be bothered. She would growl and try to snap back at her but she never bit her. Chiquis just had too much energy. Or was it that Coqueta missed Chino? I remember when Chino first came to our family, he would try to get close to Coqueta and lay next to her and she would growl at him. I'll never forget when Chino kept persisting. He kept getting closer and closer. One day, I went inside the living room and there they were, Chino and Coqueta laying together asleep. With Beau, he had a hard time trying to make friends with. Beau actually bit him once and had to have stitches on his little face. But soon enough, they all became good buddies. They played together, ate together and slept together. Poor little Chino. He went through so much in his short life. I still miss him...:(


Well, back to Chiquis... as she was getting a little older, and I have to admit, we really didn't spend enough time with her to train her. She started to have accidents inside the house. When we first got her, both kids were fighting as to who will take care if her. Now they don't even want to let her out to pee. "No, it's not my turn, no it's your turn now"! I was the one who ended up letting her out, feeding her, walking her.

Even though we would take her out and stay with her until she did her duty, right after she would come inside the house, she would run to living room or dining room and pee. My husband would get so upset. He already did not like the fact that we kept stepping on her and her having had a broken leg. And too boot, she was starting to chew up our furniture! And our house was starting to smell like pee! He said "my dogs are already trained and know the routine. If this puppy doesn't get with it, I'm getting rid of her!" I was so upset. I tried working with her but she kept on peeing! So when we had to leave the house, we always kept her in her kennel. I felt bad, that's not a life for a puppy. After a few attempts to see if the kids would really do their part and take care of her, we decided it was time to teach them a lesson. I just didn't think it would happen that soon.

Last Saturday, we took Chiquis with us to my son's soccer game. After walking her around the park, I went to sit at the bleachers to watch the game. One of my son's teammates mother was there and she said, "Oh, that's such a cute puppy. I always wanted to have a little dog like her." My husband soon jumped to the conversation and said "you can take her home with you if you want her!" She was like "for real?" "Are you giving her away?" "Yes", said my husband. "We need to find her a new home. We are not a small dog family." I, for one, did not believe that we would actually give her away. This woman has four boys and they all fell in love with Chiquis instantly. She asked us again, "if you are sure, we would definitely want to keep her, but what about your kids, won't they be sad?" I told her "no, they're always fighting as to whose turn it is to take her out. They don't really seemed to want to take care of her." We talked a little while longer about the kids and Chiquis and soon her kids took a hold of Chiquis's leash and started to walk away. I felt sad, but I had a very good feeling that she was going to be better off with this new family. "Chiquis I hope you have a good life!" as she walked away not even looking back!

My kids were quiet for awhile. At first I didn't think it phased them. Once we got home and got settled, they were like "mom, I can't believe you just gave her away!". "How could you!" Now they realized how much Chiquis meant to them, and that it takes work to take care of a pet, especially a little puppy, but it's a little too late. Hope they learned their lesson.

Yesterday, we saw Chiquis at my son's soccer game since the day she left us. She seemed so happy, running around playing with her new family. I went up to her and as soon as she saw me, she jumped up at me, I picked her up and she excitedly licked my face. I felt happy to know that she had not forgotten me.

It was almost time to go. The lady had to take her son to the bathroom and asked her other son to hold on to Chiquis. As soon as she started to walk away, Chiquis began to cry for her. I called to Chiquis and said "come here Chiquis, come to momma"! Chiquis turned to me and gave me a look that said "no, you gave me away remember? You see that lady walking away from me, she's my new mommy now!" She turned her back to me and kept crying for her. I was like o.k. Should I be happy or sad? I actually felt a little jealous! I had a mixed feeling of happines because I knew that meant she was happy in her new home. But yet I felt sad because I know now that she no longer belongs to us!

Farewell my little one!